


Of Photoshoots, Coffees and Comfortable Silences

by Lgbtimelord



Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Celebrity, F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 15:03:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16642487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lgbtimelord/pseuds/Lgbtimelord
Summary: But it wasn't that she had a crush on Darlene or anything. Of course not. It was that she was head over heels for her and she wouldn't, under any circumstances, tell her that.Famous Photographer! DominiqueFamous Actress!Darlene





	Of Photoshoots, Coffees and Comfortable Silences

The first photo Dominique took was when she was ten years old. She had found an old camera in her grandfather's attic, she went downstairs to ask her mom if she could keep it and when she said yes, in all her excitement and happiness, she took a picture of her father and her brother carrying an old coffee table thought the door. Her father was walking backwards and because of that he hit his back against the door frame, to what her brother was laughing at.

  
Everything about the picture was terrible. It was too bright in some places and too dark in others, the focus was definitely not in neither of her family members and, because of Dom's short height at that time, the angle was pretty weird too. But little Dominique loved it, she loved how she could capture the exact moment her brother's smile was the biggest and how they could still laugh about it a few weeks later. It was like keeping a memory intact. So in the next years, she kept taking pictures and in consequence she made a career out of it. And a really good one too.

  
Galleries and halls full of her pictures was a dream for little Dom but a reality for her now. All the money that came with it too, and she hated, so much, that she still wasn't as happy as she wanted to. Mornings are the same. She hates that too. She hates watching the same strangers in the streets that won't say hello to her because they are always too busy or running late. She hates the nights she can't sleep and she has the honks of the cars and the yelling of drunk people as her only company. She hates that she has to walk for an hour to her favorite library and it takes the delivery guy from her favorite restaurant an hour and a half to get to her apartment. She hates that the part of the city she lives in is full of self righteous people that looked at her as a lesbian hippie who takes photos they hang on their walls because she makes them look more alive than how they feel inside. And she hates she has all this money that goes most to charities because she has nothing to spend it on other than better cameras or a few presents for her little nephew.

  
But what Dominique definitly did not hate was the way Darlene Alderson's smiles at her every time she comes to her studio for a new photoshoot. She would never admit it but the days she comes with her witty remarks and sarcastic comments make her a little lighter, a little happier somehow.

  
The first time she came here was for a few photos, the magazine she has a contract with had called her to schedule a time and day for Darlene to come. And even that first day, she took her breath away, not only with her beauty, but with how down to earth she was. How she wasn't afraid to call her out when she made a slight sexist remark about showing more of her boobs to "sell more", thought in Dom's defense that was what the magazine had asked, or when she laughed at her for dropping her camera instead of telling her she was unprofessional like many other actors would have done. 

Afterthat, Dominique looked forward to the tiny photoshoots she would have to do of Darlene from time to time, and she kept an eye on her too. She saw how she went from one of those really good actresses in those bad reality TV shows to a movie star that is definitely gonna win some well deserved prizes soon.

  
But it wasn't that she had a _crush on Darlene_  or anything. Of course not. It was that she was head over heels for her and she wouldn't, under any circumstances, tell her that.

  
She wouldn't tell her about how her heart beats faster when she was in the room or how she loved how frustrated she gets when she calls her "love" and needs a few moments to recover so she uses the excuse of cleaning her lenses. How she loves that Darlene hates being taken pictures but she still looks like a goddess in the shoots. She loves how people think she's just a Hollywood pretty face but she's so so smart. She loves how she's never mentioned in any interview she can play three instruments but she told that to Dom one day when they were drinking after a long shoot. 

She loves the way she laughs, because she has so many types of laughs. There's the one that's just a little puff of air leaving her mouth, the one that sounds like a snort but she'll never admit it, the one that's a short laugh but the smile stays on her face for a while longer as if she's still laughing about it in her mind. And, Dom's favorite, the one that she just laughs, loud and clear and her face goes back and all her hair is out of her face and you can clearly see how she gets this little wrinkles besides her eyes. That one didn't happen so much in the beginning but after days and days of long nights trying to get that one shot Dom wanted to badly or because Darlene just shows up at her apartment because she knew Dom wasn't asleep, she sees it more often, usually after she had done something completely awkward and it would have made anyone else feel uncomfortable but Darlene just laughs, or when Dom says one of her terrible puns and all that Darlene does is take her head back and laugh with no care in the world, and Dom loves that.

  
Long after, after many late nights of terrible movies with just the two of them sitting in silence and afternoon coffees in the little coffee shop around the corner of Darlene's flat. After many days of one of them falling asleep on the  other's couch and not leaving until the next day at night. After entire days spent in comfortable silence with Dom in her laptop and Darlene reading scripts. With hilarious afternoons of Darlene forcing Dom to go over lines with her and seeing her terrible acting. After all that, Dom started to go with Darlene to award shows and started to visit her in set. And Darlene started to go to all of Dom's expositions because she's her _number one fan._

  
So that's how Dom ended up so fucking nervous. Because she had a magazine in her hand with a picture of her and Darlene laughing together, in their usual table at the usual café and even thinking about that, _usual_ , just made Dom stop because what is she doing right now. She's in love with her friend and now she's got paparazzi follow her around because of her. What. Is. She. Doing.

  
She saw the magazine by accident really, she had gone out to get a coffee because she didn't have more in her house and on her way to the studio she had seen it, she had thought it was some random gossip about Darlene again, one of those that they always laugh about together. But the fact that this one was so close to the truth, Dom's truth, made her uneasy. 

" _Movie Star Darlene Alderson looks happy and cosy with known Photographer girlfriend Dominique DiPierro on casual coffee date."_

She didn't need this right now, she didn't need Darlene to feel uncomfortable or notice her feelings or even worse, laugh about it as if the suggestion is disgusting. She doesn't know which one is worse. And she did laugh about it but in a awkward way so it was bad because every little hope Dom had of ever being with Darlene was crashed when she said "Can you imagine? The two of us together? That would be a mess, man." with an empty laugh. 

So it wasn't like something was wrong, but they did stop talking after that. Dom wouldn't invite Darlene for lunch every week and Darlene wouldn't send her terrible puns that she knows Dom would appreciate by text. Or she wouldn't call her at night and tell her how she fucked up one scene and laughed about it for like ten minutes. And after almost a month, they didn't talk at all. No phone calls, no texts, no lunch, no late nights watching movies, no more comfortable silence. And Dom missed it, so so much. 

Because she didn't notice how much time she spent with Darlene until she didn't spend any time with her at all.

  
It had been a month and two weeks since she had last talked to Darlene, their last conversation awkward and strained and none of them had dared to call after that. And Dom missed it. She missed the sound of Darlene's laugh and she missed thee smell of her perfumer when she hugged her.

  
She looked at her clock, it was four am on a Friday night, usually she would have been with Darlene, watching a movie (if it was Dom's turn to choose) or in a bar with loud music and lots of people, that definitly made her nervous, but Darlene's smile every time she said yes to go out or yes to dance was worth it. It was four am and the only thing she could think about was how much she kissed Darlene, when there was a knock on her door.  
Darlene was in the other side of it. She was wearing what were "going out" clothes, her hair was messy, probably because of dancing too much, she smelled of cigarette smoke and alcohol, but she didn't look like she was drunk. 

The moment she opened the door, two arms were immediately around her and Darlene's breath in her ear. "God. Dom, I missed you so much."

  
"Are you drunk?" Dom asked but kept her arms around Darlene.

  
"No, no. I'm fine, but I have to tell you something. Can I come in?" She said, already stepping in.

  
"Is everything okay?"

  
"Yeah, I just. I miss you so much Dom. I miss you because you were quiet. And yes, I know it sounds like a weird way to explain it but. You were quiet in the good way. Because not only you were shy and timid when I first met you but you were comfortable silences  where I just read my scripts and you did your final touches to your pictures, even when we were on opposite sides of the room. You were unspoken conversations when I noticed that someone made you uncomfortable and I would just say an excuse to leave, or when you would notice that it was getting cold and my legs were frozen because of my shorts so you would say you were tired when we both know you weren't. Because God knows I'm too strong headed to actually admit that.   
You were calmness and laziness in Sunday mornings when you didn't talk for a few minutes after you wake up because you don't really like your voice so raw, and I find it adorable how you would whisper. Like you would wake up the bird in your window if you talked too loud.   
But most importantly, you were quiet and I'm not used to that, I'm used to loud parties and flashlights and people trying to speak over each other. So when you came into my life and showed me how calm everything could be, I loved it. Like I love you. And I don't know why it took me so long to realize how in love I am with you."

  
Of all the ways she had expected the conversation to go with Darlene after almost two months of not talking, she has not expected a love confession from her and she had not expected that of that ever happened she would have been unable to move or _say_  something.

And she would have definitely not expected the tear that fell from Darlene's eye and her broken "I'm sorry, I'm gonna go now."

  
She would have not expected grabbing Darlene before she got to her door, turning her around and kissing her.

She had dreamt about that but never under this circumstances, not after two months without talking and definitly not with Darlene smelling like a smoke and cigarettes or her tasting of mint chocolate ice cream in her mouth and her hair messy and wild.

  
But damn, it was magical. 

Almost as if they had been made for this. 

That everything that they've done lead them to this one kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: @lgbtimelord


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